No opposition: RTM makes quick work of Greenwich budget

Published 5:17 pm, Tuesday, May 15, 2018

GREENWICH — It was an easy night for the Representative Town Meeting as it passed an uncontroversial $421 million municipal budget for 2018-19 without a single no vote.

After the final vote of 202 to 0, with two abstentions, the meeting ended at about 9:45 p.m. Monday, a sharp contrast to last year’s RTM budget meeting, which stretched out until nearly 1 a.m. But this year there was no major debate on the budget — which includes a zero percent increase in the town’s mill rate. That means there will be no increases in property taxes in the next fiscal year in Greenwich.

“This is a significant accomplishment and one we can all take credit for,” Board of Estimate and Taxation Chair Jill Oberlander said, thanking First Selectman Peter Tesei, Superintendent of Schools Jill Gildea, town department heads and employees and all the members of the RTM and BET for their work on the budget.

One of the few changes to the budget came from Tesei, who called for the removal of $30,000 slated for the ongoing Think Greenwich marketing campaign. The campaign was funded through a mix of public and private money, and the town’s contribution was only a small part of the overall $100,000 expense for the second year.

Tesei had previously championed the expenditure, saying it gave Greenwich a seat at the table as the campaign, which is designed to attract new residents and businesses to Greenwich. On Tuesday, he said he still supported the campaign and said Greenwich would continue to have a role in it even without making a financial contribution.

“I will continue to work with our citizen volunteers in advancing the Think Greenwich marketing initiative along with the First Selectman’s Economic Advisory Committee,” Tesei said. “This initiative was developed through the (committee) and it has attracted great interest and participation by citizens and businesses alike.”

However, Sabine Schoenberg, co-president of the campaign, said it was unclear what role the town would have in the future. Schoenberg blamed the cut on Democrats on the Board of Estimate and Taxation, who had said the $30,000 could be spent only if Tesei put together an economic development plan.

“It’s very sad to my way of thinking that this political footballing has taken place,” Schoenberg said on Tuesday. "This is totally outside the scope of what this is supposed to be about. What does an economic plan with staffing have to do with a PR campaign?”

Tesei and BET member Tony Turner have disagreed on the need for an economic development plan with new staffing. Turner has said the PR campaign is not sufficient while Tesei has said that an economic plan is not necessary and that it can be handled with existing town staff, not a new employee.

“As the town’s chief elected official, this initiative has my full support and alternative efforts by others in town government will only distract from our shared initiative and objective,” Tesei said. “Therefore, going forward unencumbered keeps the focus on what’s most important, promoting the town of Greenwich.”

Turner could not be reached for comment.

Schoenberg said the Think Greenwich campaign would continue in its second year even without the town money. Tesei said he was not disappointed by the outcome.

“I am pleased to see that citizens and businesses have embraced the Think Greenwich marketing initiative,” he said. “It has been particularly supported by those who know and understand what the town of Greenwich is truly about.”

Another item expected to spur debate was removed from the budget altogether. An allocation for $4.9 million to replace a bridge on Sound Beach Avenue was withdrawn by Tesei after the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission said earlier Monday that it did not have enough support for the project to grant it municipal improvement status.

An outspoken group of neighbors opposes the project, which also would have included replacing the traffic circle in front of the Perrot Memorial Library with a larger roundabout and raising the height of Sound Beach Avenue by two and a half feet to meet federal flood standards. Neighbors worried it would cause more flooding and traffic safety concerns as well as damage the aesthetics of the area.

Tesei said work will start over on the project, which would likely become just a bridge replacement. The town has a September deadline to get state reimbursement for the $4.9 million construction cost.

The only items deleted from the budget were the bridge project and the Think Greenwich campaign, bringing the budget total down from the $426 million approved in March by the BET.

The BET kept the mill rate the same by using money from its fund balance, which functions as town reserve. During Monday’s meeting, the RTM’s Budget Overview Committee attempted to introduce a resolution that would have called on the BET to use an additional $3 million from the fund balance to cut the mill rate.

But even though there was some support for the resolution, there was not enough to get the resolution to the floor for the RTM to consider it.